Colonel Richard "the Immigrant" Lee - Col Richard Lee Parents are Richardus Lee and Elizabeth Bendy

Col Richard Lee Parents Update:

Colonel Richard Lee's Parents should be Richardus Lee and Elizabeth Bendy as the historic and primary Parish records indicate.

In 1988, a study by William Thorndale was published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, he stated that his research proved that Col Richard Lee was actually the son of a John Lee, a clothier, and his wife Jane Hancock and that Richard had been born not at of Coton Hall in Shropshire England, but in Worcester England. In this publishing, Thorndale presented what appeared to be legitimate sources and arguments which carefully and systematically dispelled the accepted ancestral lineage of Col Richard Lee from the prominent English Lee’s from Shropshire. Since that publishing, it appears that the majority of research today has adopted this parentage of Richard Lee from this John Lee and Jane Hancock assertion, even though this 1988 publishing had overridden the legal and historic documented facts that stated otherwise.

And I am confident that my conclusions on Thorndale’s research, publishing and findings on Col Richard Lee are false, ficticous and appear to be simply made up.

This probably does not surprise many of you who research the Lee family that deal with more than often heated arguments, hidden records that were available no longer visible, mis-information, lines that seem to go nowhere and let us not forget the documented lines that constantly get thrown out of the Lee family because of purportedly wrong DNA matches from DNA projects that promote DNA from individuals whose lines cannot be properly verified, which by the way is an inappropriate misuse of DNA material and possible illegal (or will be in the near future when laws about DNA are updated) regardless of what is being said. There is not a legitimate historical society or legal entity that would accept results or interpretations of DNA test comparisons from any DNA project(s) of separate individuals from separate lineages descenting from a common ancestor when the DNA does not come from the specific common ancestor shared by these two separate individuals claiming descent, mainly because the facts, i.e.; the individuals tested, labs doing test, DNA test performed, DNA sources, etc., cannot be publicly verified. This should not be done, and is unacceptable that this is being done to the Lee descendants TODAY and IS being used to confirm or deny a genealogical descent from Col Richard Lee. Books have been published by appointed DNA experts doing the same thing, taking unconfirmed and unverifiable DNA tests and their interpretations of the results and using the information as factual evidence to confirm or deny relationships in which none of the DNA involved can be verified to the common ancestor's DNA which is WRONG. Period.

So why would Thordale possibly do such a thing? Perhaps the same reasoning behind the agenda to not recognize the 90% of Lee descendants who match DNA and have documented lines to Col Richard Lee who are being told they are not of the Lee’s of Virginia lines because they do not match 'recognized' Lee descendant DNA, which none of this can be verified?

Let us look at 1988 and what may possible explain why I am skeptical about why Thorndale had his findings on Col Richard Lee’s ancestry:
In 1988 there was no internet. The concept of being able to access any of the sources from the UK Parish records during the timeframes that Thorndale quotes in his research to verify the validity of said documentation as Thorndale states in his publication was INCONCEIVABLE – yet unfortunately he was believed because he stated sources and experts that agreed with his finding but none of which could not be verified, and was not.

IF none of Thorndale's cited sources were never verified why was this nonsense published? I am thinking that is a very good question because genealogical publication standards were lowered when it was in this case.

DNA was just a concept and at the early stages of development in 1988. It was still unclear if and how lineages could be verified in the future with the use of DNA testing, yet there was that possibility that it would someday be useful to tracing lines to common ancestors. Keep that in mind, please, as I try to explain one theory. When Thordale introduced a generation that in reality did not exist to the line as parents of Col Richard Lee, he then introduced a foreign Y-DNA into Col Richard Lee's lineage yet introduced new Hancock female DNA that does exist in the lineage but in another generation ascending from Richard Lee's Shropshire line. SO in theory IF DNA research progressed in the future (remember we are still back in 1988!) then creating a discrepancy in Y-DNA data between lines descending from Col. Richard Lee (if we do not have a direct DNA sample from Col Richard Lee himself) when comparing individual descendants from separate descending LOV lines. And THAT is exactly what is happening today.

This IS relevant due to factual evidence just recently discovered that a discrepancy has been found in the DNA trail from the Ditchley/Blenheim lines indicating that there may be an NPE in the descent from Col Richard Lee in those lines, mainly affecting the descent from Col Richard Lee to General Robert E lee descendants. Anyone can see this by triangulation of multiple DNA samples from multiple (male and female) Lee descendants taking from various LOV lines that have documented pedigrees to Col Richard Lee and the Shropshire Lee ancestors. Perhaps the disconnection of Col Richard Lee from his true parents and ancestral descent and adding a generation not related to him was the result of the prior knowledge that there may be an existing NPE in the more prominent lines and there appear to be a long standing covering up of Lee family indiscretions that has been the subject of argument for decades now. This may also explain why so many of these DNA tested Lee descendants have DNA matches (over 90%) to the English Lee’s and their female counterpart’s (wives/mothers) DNA, yet DO NOT match to some of the descendants of the Ditchley/Blenheim lines (both male and female DNA). This may also explain the long standing discrediting of generations of descendants from William Lee (son of Richard) and the discrediting of those of us who dare to disagree with those associated with the historic society who promote the Lee family history, control the artifacts, and WEALTH.

Now here is the truth of the matter.

I challenge any and ALL researchers to go to all the Parish records referenced by Thorndale regarding John Lee (or Leyes) Jane Hancock, Richard Lee, etc., death/birth/probate/Wills/marriages and locate them - for I have found that NONE exist in ANY of the English parishes of that timeframe, not just from the Worchester and Shropshire areas, but the WHOLE of English parishes but for the references in Thorndale’s publishing. Please - IF you can locate these transcripts and sources that Thorndale presents as evidence to Col. Richard Lee's parentage, please share them with us, because they simply DO NOT EXIST!

Please only submit primary sources of the documentation and sources that Thorndale cites in his 1988 Publishing, please do not submit sources that reference Thorndale.

All Parish Records that I have found, and publicly available, point back to the original findings of Richardus Lee and his wife Elizabeth as parents prior to Thorndale’s “research’ in 1988.

Col. Richard Lee's parents are Richardus Lee and Elizabeth Bendy, as Col. Richard Lee's baptismal records show his birth at Shropshire, citing Ricardus Lee as parent (father and present at baptism) as well as the will for Richardus Lee mentioning 'son' Richard Lee in the probate record.

Richardus Lee died in 1621, which left Col Richard Lee fatherless and could explain why he was instructed, educated, interned by uncles, cousins, and family members in other parishes surrounding the Shropshire area, so that he could be well versed on the different trades associated with his family and wealth, which in turned he found useful in his entrepreneurism he exercised as he matured and created at the time the wealthiest empire in the American Colonies.
Records are attached to this webpage so that anyone can verify as anyone can also obtain IF they know how to search UK Parish records. At least they are visible today.

My research concludes that the whole John Leys, Lee, Lies and Jane Hancock is incorrect and possibly made up because there are no parish sources or records, other than Thorndale's publishing, that state's it as so.

I am listing the LEGAL and HISTORIC documentation proving Col Richard Lee descends from the Lee’s of Coton Hall, Shropshire (AKA SALOP) England:

Source: Cobbs Hall Bible record:
Colonel Richard Lee, Son of Richard Lee of Nordley Regis in
Shropshire, died at Dividing Creeks in the Co of Northumberland Va. March 1 1664
This is from old Lee Bible - Cobbs Hall Bible record, a photographic reproduction of which is in the Lee Magazine, VIII, 12. URL:Amos Eagle Elliston Item: 12 12: Cobbs Hall: Bible Series: ENGLISH ANCESTRY OF THE LEES 264F: SOURCE: Society of the Lees of Virginia Collection, 1771-2000. 82 boxes, 264 A--264 CCCC (PDF Image also attached to this profile)
Source: Richard Lee and Elizabeth Bendy parents of Col. Richard Lee PER Lee Family Digital Archive:
“The Emigrant's Parentage
The problem of Richard Lee's parentage has long baffled genealogists. In recent years, however, information has been brought to light which permits older evidence to be interpreted with new assurance.
Richard Lee was unquestionably descended from the ancient Shropshire family of that name, for he used the generic arms of Lee of Shropshire, and a contemporary officer of the College of Arms attested his right to do so. It has been argued that, using those arms without quarterings, he might have been any one of the presumably innumerable descendants of Reyner de Lega in the thirteenth generation. This argument overlooks the fact that, to have used the arms of Lee of Shropshire after the Visitations of 1569 and 1623, Richard Lee must have been a scion of either Coton or Langley.
It may be noticed incidentally that in the one certain example of Richard Lee's use of armorial bearings, the inscription on the silver tankard which his son John presented to Queen's College, Oxford, convenience and good taste alike required the use of the generic Lee arms without quarterings. The same maybe said of the well-known Cobbs Hall woodcarving (which may once have adorned the Emigrant's home on Dividing Creek) and of the Lee arms on the communion cup which Hancock Lee presented to Lee (i.e., Wicomico) Parish. The woodcarving does include a crescent label, a heraldic difference commonly used by the Coton Lees to show that they were the younger branch of the Shropshire family.
In addition to his use of the Lee arms, the Emigrant left direct testimony regarding his origin. The inscription on John Lee's famous tankard (which must have been executed pursuant to his father's instructions) declares that Richard Lee was of “Morton Regis” in Shropshire. This inscription has perplexed generations of genealogists because it could not be found that any place called Morton Regis had ever existed in Shropshire. It was supposed that “Morton Regis” was somehow a mistake for Nordley Regis, but it was hard to see how “Nordley” could have been transcribed as “Morton.” This difficulty disappears when it is considered that Nordley was commonly called Norley.14 In old English script “Norley” could easily have been misread as “Morton,” particularly so in the Emigrant's very difficult handwriting. The only possible explanation is that Richard Lee wrote “Norley Regis” in his instructions, the engraver made it “Morton Regis,” young John Lee knew no better, and no one who did ever noticed the mistake or had it corrected.
This mistake was repeated on the tombstone of Richard Lee II, who died in 1714. It declares that he was “of an ancient family of Merton Regis in Shropshire.”15 This tombstone was probably ordered by Richard Lee III, then resident in London. Richard III was three generations removed from Nordley Regis and unable to consult any family records in Virginia. He presumably relied on John Lee's tankard for a statement regarding the family's origin.
In Virginia, however, it was known that the family had come from Nordley Regis, despite the “Merton Regis” on Richard II's tombstone. When Thomas Lee of Stratford sought information regarding his ancestors he addressed his inquiry to Coton. (A letter addressed to “Merton Regis” could not have been delivered.) The reply of Lancelot Lee is of no value to us except as proof that Thomas Lee knew that Coton was his ancestral home. Lancelot Lee, admitting that he knew nothing of the collateral branches of the family, mistakenly identified the Emigrant as the sixth son of John Lee of Coton.
If we may conclude that the Emigrant was indeed a scion of the Lees of Coton, then in point of time he must have been a grandson of John Lee (1530–1605). He could not, however, have been a son of John Lee's eldest son and heir, Thomas: the children of Thomas Lee, being in the line of succession to the manor, were well recorded. It has been proved that six other sons of John Lee died without issue. By their elimination only Richard, the sixth son, remains as a possible father for Richard Lee the Emigrant.
The probability thus indirectly established is confirmed by the only surviving direct and positive evidence. That evidence is found in a Bible record kept by the Lees of Cobbs Hall, the first entry in which reads as follows”

“Colonel Richard Lee “[Son of Richard Lee] of Nordley Regis in Shropshire died at Dividing Creeks in the Co of Northumberland Va. March 1 1664” From old Lee Bible) It must be acknowledged that this entry is not a contemporary record. The Bible in which it appears was printed in London in 1765 and was the property of Charles Lee IV of Cobbs Hall (1744–1785).19 The record of his descent must have been taken from an older Cobbs Hall Bible. Moreover, it is evident on the face of the record that the first entry had been copied into that older Bible from a still older Lee Bible. Thus the entry which concerns us has been copied twice.
That fact, however, does not destroy the validity of this record as evidence. When the copying was done there existed no motive for fabrication: the good faith of the copyists can be assumed. They intended to make an accurate record and their work can be accepted as such, subject only to the possibility of inadvertent error in detail in the process of transcription. They can have had no personal knowledge of the existence in Shropshire of a place called Nordley Regis, yet they, like Thomas Lee of Stratford, were not misled by the “Merton Regis” on the tombstone of Richard Lee II. They must have had access to a more authoritative source. Their quotation marks show that the first entry in their record was not a later restatement, but was rather a precise quotation from a contemporary, or nearly contemporary, document.
The brackets within the quotation marks are puzzling. Except for their position at the beginning of the quotation, they might be taken to mark an interpolation by one of the copyists. However, close examination of the spacing in the manuscript text shows that the line “Son of Richard Lee of Nordley Regis” was first written without brackets: the first is crowded directly under the first quotation mark, the second is inserted into the normal space between “Lee” and “of.” In these circumstances the brackets do not appear to affect the integrity of the indicated quotation, but rather to have been used as an afterthought to single out and emphasize the fact stated within them.
In evaluating this first entry in the Cobbs Hall Bible it must also be considered that the two copyists were able to check their facts against an authoritative source known to have been available to them, though not available to us. This source was the tombstone of the Emigrant himself, which was still to be seen near Cobbs Hall as late as 1798.20 Both copyists must have been familiar with the inscription on this tombstone, which presumably included some statement as to the Emigrant's origin. It is unlikely that they would have copied into their record anything at variance with it.
In view of these considerations and of the mass of corroborating circumstantial evidence given above,21 the Cobbs Hall Bible record can be accepted as conclusive proof that Richard Lee, the Emigrant, was indeed the son of Richard Lee of Nordley Regis and the grandson of John Lee of Coton. In November 1930 it was so accepted by the College of Arms”

Source: Last Will and Last Testament of Col Richard Lee, the Immigrant:

Note: The following transcript of Richard Lee's Last Will and Testament is taken from Edmund Jennings Lee's Lee of Virginia, 1642–1892: Biographical and Genealogical Sketches of the Descendants of Colonel Richard Lee (Philadelphia, 1895) pp. 61–64.

Richard Lee, the Immigrant (c.1613–1664)

IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. I, Colonel Richard Lee of Virginia, and lately of Stafford Langton in the County of Essex, Esquire, being bound upon a voyage to Virginia aforesaid, and not knowing how it may please God to dispose of me in so long a voyage, utterly renouncing, disclaiming, disannulling, and revoking all former wills, either script, nuncupative or parol, and schedules or codicils of wills whatsoever, do make, ordain and declare this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following, first: I give and bequeath my soul to that good and gracious God that gave it me and to my Blessed Redeemer Jesus Christ, assuredly trusting in and by his meritorious death and passion to receive salvation, and my body to be disposed of whether by sea or land according to the opportunity of the place, not doubting but at the last day both body and soul shall be reunited and glorified.
Next, my will and desire is that all my estate aforesaid, both lease land, free land and copyhold land and houses be with all convenient speed that may be, sold for the payment of my debts to John Jeffries Esq. and what the sale of that shall fall short of, to be made good out of my crops in Virginia, to be consigned to my good friends Mr. Thomas Griffith and Mr. John Lockey, or one of them in that behalf, and in case the estate of Stratford be not as speedily sold as I desire, that then the best improvements possible may be made from year to year of my said plantation, and my servants labour with such directions and appointments as the said Griffith and Lockey shall order for the better and sooner payment of my debts, and that my number of servants be still kept up, and continued out of the labors by the said Griffith and Lockey, or one of them, for the better managing and effecting thereof.
Also my will and earnest desire is that my good friends will with all convenient speed cause my wife and children (all except Francis if he be pleased) to be transported to Virginia, and to provide all necessary for the voyage, and from time to time till my estate be disentangled and free of all my debts, to provide and allow for them, and every one of them, a competent and convenient maintenance according as the product of estate will bear, relation being had to the payment of my debts and the annual supply of my several plantations, all which I absolutely refer to the said Thomas Griffith and John Lockey, and after my debts are paid, I give and bequeath my estate as followeth:
To my wife, during her life, I give the plantation whereon I now dwell, ten English servants, five negroes, 3 men and 2 women, 20 sows and corn proportionable to the servants; the said negroes I give to her during her widowhood and no longer, and then presently to return to those of the five youngest children, also the plantation Mocke Nock.
Item. My will and earnest desire is that my household stuff at Strafford be divided into three parts, two of which I give to my son John, and bind him to give to every one of his brothers a bed, and the other part I give to my wife Anna Lee.
Item. I give all my plate to my three oldest sons, or the survivor or survivors of them, each to have his part delivered to him when he comes to the age of 18 years.
Item. I give to my son John and heirs forever, when he comes to the age of 18 years, all my land and plantation at Machotick, all the stock of cattle and hogs thereupon, also 10 negroes, viz. five men and five women, and 10 English servants for their times, all the corn that shall be found there, all tools, household stuff and utensils thereupon.
Item. To Richard and his heirs forever, when he come to the age aforesaid, I give my plantation called Paradise, with all my servants thereupon, all my stock of cattle and hogs, all working tools and utensils, and corn that shall be found thereupon to be for the provision of the said servants.
Item. To Francis and his heirs forever, when he comes to the age aforesaid, I give the Paper-makers Neck and the War Captains Neck with five negroes, three men and two women, and 10 English servants, and the stock of cattle and hogs, corn and tools and utensils upon the said several Necks.
Item. I give and bequeath to the five younger children, viz.: William, Hancock, Betsey, Anne, and Charles, the plantation whereon John Baswell now lives and so all along including Bishop's Neck and to the utmost extent of my land towards Brewer's and also 4,000 acres upon Potomack, also the two plantations before bequeathed to my wife, after her death to be divided between them or their survivors or survivor of them, also all the rest of my cattle, hogs, corn, household stuff, tools or whatsoever is or shall be found upon the said plantations at the time of my death, all which said estate so bequeathed to my younger children, after my debts are paid, I desire may be employed upon the said plantations for a joint stock to raise portions of the said children against they come of age aforesaid or the females married. The said servants and what other products of their labors whether money or whatsoever to be equally divided between them or their survivors or survivor of them, but the said land only to be divided between the male children.
Item. I give and bequeath to my eldest son John, three islands lying in the Bay of Chesapeake, the great new bed that I brought over in the Duke of York, and the furniture thereunto belonging.
Item. My will is that my horses, mares, and colts be equally divided in two parts, one whereof to be and belong to my three eldest children, and the other to my five youngest, and shall be sold as they increase toward raising money for their portions, and in case any of the three eldest children die before they come to the age of 18 years, that then his or their portion come to the survivors or survivor of them, and in case they all die that the whole personal estate equally to return to the five youngest children, but the land only to the male children, and if the five younger children die before they come to the age aforesaid, or the females married, then their parts to be divided among the eldest or survivors or survivor of them.
Item. My will is that my son William Lee have all that land on the Maryland side, whereon George English is now seated, when he comes to the age aforesaid; also my will is that goods sufficient be set apart for the maintenance of the gangs of each plantation for the space of two years, and all the rest of my goods to be sold to the best advantage and the tobacco shipped here to Mr. Lockey and Mr. Griffith towards the payment of my debts.
Item. I give and bequeath unto my son Francis, after my debts are paid, my whole interest in the ship called Elizabeth and Mary, being one-eighth part, also one-eighth part in the ship called The Susan, and in case of the death of Francis, I give the same to Charles, and in the case of his death to the two girls Elizabeth and Anne.
But in the case that by the blessing of God upon the industry and labor of my people upon the several plantations, my said debts be fully satisfied before the said land at Stratford be sold, nevertheless I will and entreat my good friends, Mr. Griffith and Mr. Lockey, or one of them, [that] it may be sold to the most and best advantage, and the produce thereof put out at interest, and the interest thereof be employed for and towards the better education of John and Richard, equally, to assist the one in his travels for the attainments of a reasonable perfection in the knowledge of Physick, the other at the University or the Inns of Court which he shall be most fit for, and the principal money to be equally divided between the two daughters when they come to age or be married, and that the said daughters be utterly debarred from all former legacies given to them as aforesaid, but in case of their death then the sale and produce of said estate at Stratford to be equally divided between my eldest son John and my youngest son Charles. Also I desire and order that my wife, my son John, and all my overseers, that either all or one, shall from time to time keep a correspondence with the said Griffith and Lockey, and order all my affairs in Virginia to the best advantage, as they or one of them shall direct them, and ship all my tobacco and what else shall be raised upon the said plantations to the said Griffith and Lockey for satisfaction of my debt and advantage of my children and do yearly give them an account of all horses, mares, negroes, goods, and all other things according as they shall receive directions and instructions from the said Mr. Thomas Griffith and Mr. Lockey.
Lastly: For the use aforesaid I make and ordain my ever loving friends Mr. Thomas Griffith and Mr. John Lockey, Merchants, John and Richard Lee, my full and sole Executors of this my Last Will and Testament, but in respect to my son Richard, till he cometh of age, I do absolutely place all the management of my will upon the care and trust of my first mentioned executors till my said son, Richard Lee, comes to age as aforesaid, hoping the same friendship to mine after my death which they have always done unto me.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this Sixth day of February, in the 16th year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles II., King of Great Britain, &c., &c., and in the year of our Lord 1663. [1664]
(Signed) RICHARD LEE. (Seal)
Signed, sealed and delivered before us
Peter Ashton
George Wall
W. Carter Seaward

Source(s): Baptismal Record(s):

Note: listing Richard (Richardus) as father and present:

Richardus Lee; Present at baptism of Richard Lee:; County Shropshire; Register type Composite; Register date range 1616-1638; Archive reference P253/A/1/1; Page 2; Record set Shropshire Baptisms; Category Birth, Marriage & Death (Parish Registers); Subcategory Parish Baptisms; Collections from United Kingdom, England; (source image attached)
Richard (Richardus) Lee listed as present (Father) at baptism of Col. Richard Lee; County Shropshire Register type Composite Register date range 1616-1638 Archive reference P253/A/1/1 Page 2 Record set Shropshire Baptisms Category Birth, Marriage & Death (Parish Registers) Subcategory Parish Baptisms Collections from United Kingdom, England Note:source image attached - Primary Source:; First name(s) Richard; Last name Lee; Birth year -; Baptism year 1617; Baptism date 15 May 1617; Denomination Anglican; Place Shrewsbury, St Chad's; Father's first name(s) Richard; Mother's first name(s) -; Mother's last name -; Residence -; County Shropshire; Register type Composite; Register date range 1616-1638; Archive reference P253/A/1/1; Page 2; Record set Shropshire Baptisms; Category Birth, Marriage & Death (Parish Registers); Subcategory Parish Baptisms; Collections from United Kingdom, England

Source(s): Marriage record of Richardus Lee and Elizabeth Bendy:

England Marriages 1538-1973 Transcription; First name(s) Ric.; Last name Lee; Name note -; Marriage year 1599; Marriage date 21 Oct 1599; Marriage place Alveley; Spouse's first name(s) Elizabeth; Spouse's last name Bendy; County Shropshire; Country England; Record set England Marriages 1538-1973; Category Birth, Marriage & Death (Parish Registers); Subcategory Parish Marriages; Repository: England, United Kingdom.
Shropshire marriages Transcription; First name(s) Ric; Last name Lee; Marriage year 1599; Marriage date 21 Oct 1599; Marriage place Alveley; Denomination Anglican; Spouse's first name(s) Elizabeth; Spouse's last name Bendy; County Shropshire; Register date range 1561-1721; Archive reference P10/A/1/1; Page 37; Register type Composite; Record set Shropshire Marriages; Category Birth, Marriage & Death (Parish Registers); Subcategory Parish Marriages; Collections from United Kingdom, England; Repository: DC Thomson Family History.
England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973; Name Ric. Lee; Gender Male; Marriage Date 21 Oct 1599; Marriage Place Alveley,Shropshire,England; Spouse Elizabeth Bendy; FHL Film Number 502909, 506789; Household Members ; Name Age; Elizabeth Bendy ; Ric. Lee; ancestry.com
U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900; Name Richard Lee; Gender Male; Birth Year 1563; Spouse Name Elizabeth Bendy; Spouse Birth Year 1593; Marriage Year 1599; Number Pages 1; Household Members ; Name Age; Elizabeth Bendy ; Richard Lee; Source number: 975.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: DPS.

Source: Probate of Will of Richardus Lee:

UK, Probate Records 1269-1975.Name Lee, Richard; Death 1621; Vital Shropshire, England; First name(s) Richard; Last name Lee; Year 1621; Probate year 1621; Inventory year 1620; Parish Shrewsbury; County Shropshire; Country England; Series description Registered wills and original wills, administrations and inventories, 1494-1860, and, act books, 1532-1638 for Diocese of Lichfield Episcopal Consistory Court; Piece description Original wills, administrations, inventories; Piece surname range L; Piece year range 1621-1623; Record set Staffordshire, Dioceses Of Lichfield And Coventry Wills And Probate 1521-1860; Category Birth, Marriage & Death (Parish Registers); Subcategory Wills & probate; Collections from England, United Kingdom

Source: International Find A Grave Memorial:

UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current; Name Richard Lee; Birth Date 1563; Birth Place Alveley, Shropshire Unitary Authority, Shropshire, England; Death Date 1621; Death Place Shropshire, England; Cemetery Alveley Churchyard; Burial or Cremation Place Alveley, Shropshire Unitary Authority, Shropshire, England; Has Bio? Y; Spouse Elizabeth Lee; Find A Grave: Memorial #139408889; Note: He was the son of Sir John Lee of Coton Hall and wife Joyce Romney. He was baptized at Alveley church on Oct. 6, 1563, as noted in the church registers. He married Elizabeth Bendy in 1586. He was originally buried in the 13th century chapel at Coton Hall. In 1878 the chapel roof collapsed and all the Lee monuments were moved to Alveley church.

Additional historical documentation that confirms Col Richard Lee descent from Richardus Lee and Lee's of Shropshire:
More of my research findings: Documentation for Richard Lee linage from Shropshire, Coton Hall Lees Compiled by Jacqueli Finley:

*Richard Lee Baptism record:
The Parish Registers of Broseley, Shropshire, 1570-[1750], Volume 1 By Broseley (England), Pg. 16. Note: Father Ricardus Lee present. (Record microfilm attached below).

*As Will of his father, Richardus Lee, wife Elizabeth Bendy, also does confirm lineage of Richard Lee b.1617/18 married Anne Constable: The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 46, Pg. 71. (Record microfilm attached below).

*Letter from Lancelot Lee, of Coton, to Thomas Lee, of Stratford JOURNAL ARTICLE: A New Clue to the Lee Ancestry: The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography Vol. 6, No. 3 (Jan., 1899), pp. 255-260 Published by: Virginia Historical Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4242160 Page Count:6

Title: A New Clue to the Lee Ancestry Created Date: 20160808195236Z

*Family Trees By François Weil Harvard University Press, Apr 30, 2013 - History - 320 pages

http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674045835&conte...

*Annual Report, Volume 2
By American Historical Association
U.S. Government Printing Office, 1907 - Historiography

*Congressional Serial Set U.S. Government Printing Office, 1907 - United States Pg.929

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.156996/page/n7

*Edmund Jennings Lee, Lee of Virginia, 1642-1892: Biographical and Genealogical Sketches of the Descendants of Colonel Richard Lee, Pg. 38

Heritage Books, Jun 16, 2008 - Reference - 664 pages

https://archive.org/details/leeofvirginia16400inleee/page/n5

*Vols. 37-52 (1883-98) include section: Genealogical gleanings in England, by H. F. Waters.

https://archive.org/details/newenglandhistor1877wate/page/n5

* Miscellanea Genealogica Et Heraldica Hamilton, Adams, and Company, 1894 – Genealogy, Pg. 109

https://archive.org/details/miscellaneagenea03lond/page/n7

*Full text of "Genealogical history of the Lee family of Virginia and Maryland from A.D. 1300 to A.D. 1866, LEE FAMILY VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND FROM A.D. 1300 TO A.D. 1 866 WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS EDITED BY EDWARD C. MEAD

URL:https://archive.org/stream/genealogicalhist00mead/genealogicalhist0...

*Society of the Lees of Virginia Collection, 1771-2000. 82 boxes, 264 A--264 CCCC (38 linear ft.)

Eleanor Lee Templeman (1906-1990), a Northern Virginia author, genealogist, and historian, assembled much of this collection. Her writings and correspondence capture the activities and interests of the Society, as well as the genealogy of the Lees.

Scope and Content Note: This collection documents the family history of Lees in Virginia, especially to the Lees related to Richard Lee the Emigrant. There are extensive series of files by names of individuals with the surname of Lee, by surnames of other families which intermarried with the Lees, and by names of properties associated with these families.

Other major series cover the English ancestry of the Lees, antique objects associated with the Lees, and the records of the Society of the Lees of Virginia. There are files on dozens of related families, but the Goldsborough and Boothe families are particularly well represented. The photograph collection provides portraits of many of the Lees as well as pictures of Lee homes and other related subjects. Other formats include: correspondence, letters, maps, genealogical charts, books, periodicals, newspaper and magazine clippings, business records, index cards, completed membership applications, brochures, booklets, prints, reports, court records, property records,histories.

URL:https://alexlibraryva.org/custom/web/lhsc/onlinecollectionguides/ar...

Media of Parish Records and Original Documentation:

Richardus Lee and Elizabeth Bendy Marriage Record.

Col Richard Lee Baptismal Record.

Richardus Lee Probate Record.

Society Lees Records RLee.pdf
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